Engraving is a delicate and intricate art. Typical ornamental features, such as a scroll (a spiral design having leaf shapes around its inner perimeter, require complex shapes (the spiral) to be cut. The backbone of the ornamental feature is not the only problem since the ancillary features, such as leaf shapes, are repeated in and around the backbone feature. In deed, ornamental features, such as the scroll, are typically repeated numerous times in an entire design. In addition to the relatively circular problems encountered by designs such as the scroll and lettering, other engraving designs contain irregular outlines, such as foliage or accordion shapes, which require the engraver to make hairpin turns repeatedly.
Since the engraver can only turn his wrist a small portion of arc of a circle, the engraver must cut the first arc and stop to reposition the work piece before continuing the arc. This is repeated until the complex shape is completed.
This method of engraving causes two problems; one of time loss and the other is the difficulty in maintaining good flowing curves with even depth and width. The need to repeatedly stop and reposition the work piece causes considerable time loss of the length of the job, compounded by lapses of engraving quality.
For traditional engravers workstations having a manual turntable to secure the work piece, such as used in the case of the hammer and chisel method of engraving, the hand holding the chisel is frequently the one also used to rotate the turntable. This exacerbates the time loss problem since the engraver must lift the chisel out of the cut for each turn and then reposition the tool in the cut to continue. Engravers using a pneumatic chisel suffer slightly less since they may leave the chisel in the cut while the engraver rotates the turntable. None the less, they also must stop, or hesitate, their engraving while repositioning the job in order to complete their cut.
Thus, there is clearly a present need for an engraver's workstation that does not require the engraver to lift tools from the workpiece and manually rotating a turntable or vise in or in which the work piece is secured.